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Dragons
This page serves as a source of information about dragons and their relations as it is applicable to World 42 role-playing characters. Everyone is invited to add to this information. Brief History The history of the dragon race has an ancient beginning, though it is one that is shrouded in much mystery as much has been lost throughout the ages, in no small part contributed to the dragons themselves, who have not taken any steps to keep records of their existence. What little we do know comes not from the dragons themselves, but from accounts of history, and from what little scraps of findings we can gleam from the race that created the dragons: the dragonkin. The dragons began as an experiment of one dragonkin known as Kerapac, who sought a way to continue the lineage of the dragonkin by creating artificial progeny, as the dragonkin themselves were no longer able to have children of their own, and so the dragons were envisioned as a way to continue their bloodline without their children being bound and enslaved to the elder artifact: the Stone of Jas. Using his own blood, with the addition of science and magic, upon the egg of a large water lizard (which by all accounts, was most likely the egg of a dagannoth), Kerapac produced the first dragon; the Queen Black Dragon. As his creation grew into massive proportions; Kerapac was forced to build a large underground prison to both protect her, and keep her locked away from the world above. He continued to study his creation long after that, but it was not long before another dragonkin followed his example; creating a smaller three headed beast, which later would be named Shakorexis, and given the title King Black Dragon. It was from this pair that Kerapac began breeding a dynasty, and the dragon race proper would eventually rise from the many breeds that were cast aside from the numerous breeding programs. Ultimately, the dragons and their many relatives were deemed failures by the dragonkin; even with all the effort put into their breeding over the ages, despite their intelligence the dragons themselves were deemed too bestial and aggressive, too primitive with little to no motivation to become more, too weak compared to their creators: the dragonkin. The entire race was abandoned by the dragonkin, and their bestial progeny continued to successfully survive on their own in the wilds of Gielinor. Outside of their history involving the dragonkin, there is little else to be said for dragons and their relations, only what scraps that historians have passed down, and from legend. Among the oldest of these legends were the wyrms; massive draconic beasts of untold destructive capabilities, one being enough to destroy an entire city, which were thought to have been active during the godwars, and killed off as result, and so the wyrms have faded into history. Despite their fearsome reputation, dragons themselves have had some peaceful interaction with other races. One such account of this can be found in the long forgotten history of the empire created by the god Zaros. In his travels to other worlds, Zaros discovered a reptilian race of humanoids known as the Ilujanka, who were able to mentally and spiritually connect with other creatures. After bringing some from their homeworld over to Gielinor, he had them use their talents upon the dragons, with effect; as dragons soon became valued members of his armies during the golden age of his empire. Although capable of peaceful interaction, given some initial help, dragons are also capable of great destruction; as the isle of Crandor, which previously held a great center of magical learning and a small city, was destroyed by a single green dragon named Elvarg. To this day dragons and their relatives can often be found in the more brutal areas of Gielinor, just waiting for some daring, brave soul to discover them. Accepted Lore This section addresses details about dragons that are widely accepted throughout the World 42 role-playing community. Draconic Races This section serves as a source of information regarding the dragon race and their close relatives as is applicable to World-42 Roleplaying characters. Everyone is invited to add to this information. True Dragons While there are many beasts that are related to dragons, which often called draconic creatures, only one of these races are really dragons. True dragons are distinguished by their four legs and single pair of wings, whereas their relatives vary much more in bodily design. Dragons proper are the most successful of the draconic races, as they are the most numerous and most often seen, compared to their relatives of which many have done poorly in comparison. Dragons themselves are quite intelligent, enough so to learn speech and create culture if they put in the effort, though almost all prefer a bestial life in the wild; living like animals, greatly due to the fact that most dragons have an inherent anger in their mentality. True dragons are separated into two distinct groups; the chromatic dragons and the metallic dragons. Chromatic Chromatic dragons were the first true dragons, though they were not the first of the draconic races created by the dragonkin, rather they were produced closer to the end stage of the experiments the kin preformed. The dragons themselves were what eventually caused the kin to finally cease their genetic experiments, though later side projects were attempted to refine them into more desirable progeny, but those too ended in failure. *Green dragons **Brutal green dragons *Blue dragons *Red dragons *Black dragons *White dragons (only one surviving member) The nearly extinct white dragons were the closest to success that the dragons came to meeting the high standards of the dragonkin, though they, like the other dragons, were deemed failures. Unlike other dragons, the whites lacked the overly aggressive tendencies of their cousins, and lived rather solitary lives compared to other dragons; which often live in groups. Whites were known for their unique ability: to travel between worlds, something that is impossible for most mortals, and they could do this as easily as they could fly through the sky provided that they knew where they were going; otherwise they could end up in empty space. The white dragons inherited this trait from their creators, the dragonkin, who have the same ability. It was from this magical property that their hides were viewed as valuable, and so the solitary white dragons were hunted to near extinction, and due to their solitary nature they did not find out about the aggressive hunting efforts until it was too late. Blackdragon.png|A black dragon, strongest of the chromatics. Babyblackdragon.png|A baby black dragon. Baby_dragon_(black)_pet.png|A baby black dragon (summoning pet version). Reddragon.png|A red dragon, second strongest of the chromatics. Babyreddragon.png|A baby red dragon. Baby_dragon_(red)_pet.png|A baby red dragon (summoning pet version). Bluedragon.png|A blue dragon, second weakest of the chromatics. Babybluedragon.png|A baby blue dragon. Baby_dragon_(blue)_pet.png|A baby blue dragon (summoning pet version). Greendragon.png|A green dragon, weakest of the chromatics. Baby_dragon_(green)_pet.png|A baby green dragon (summoning pet version). Brutal Green dragon.png|A brutal green dragon, a more primitive, intelligent, and stronger version of the green dragon. Elvarg_new.png|Elvarg, a rather dangerous green dragon that destroyed the island of Crandor. Therragorn.png|Therragorn, the last living white dragon. Metallic Metallic dragons were once chromatic dragons, but through the experimentations of Kerapac and Forcae, metal was added to their genetic makeup. Many metallic dragons did not survive this process, as the procedures used to make them what they were killed most of them before they hatched from their eggs. Compared to their close cousins, the chromatics, metallic dragons possess more potent fire breath capabilities, though their mental state has been described as "pained" by Hannibus, one of the surviving Ilujanka, as it seems the experiments preformed on them by Kerapac unintentionally increased their savage nature; making metallic dragons more feral than their chromatic cousins. *Bronze dragons *Iron dragons *Steel dragons *Mithril dragons *Adamant dragons *Rune dragons Elite_rune_dragon_(armoured).png|An elite rune dragon: strongest of all metallic dragons. Elite_rune_dragon.png|An elite rune dragon, heavy plating removed. Rune_dragon_(armoured).png|A normal rune dragon. Rune_dragon.png|A rune dragon, with less armor plating. Adamant_dragon.png|An adamant dragon. Mithrildragon.png|A mithril dragon. Steeldragon.png|A steel dragon. Irondragon.png|An iron dragon. Bronzedragon.png|A bronze dragon. Other Dragons There are a few other breeds of dragon that don't quite fit in either the metallic or the chromatic category, but mostly resemble the chromatics, as they don't have any metal on their bodies. It is unknown what was used to create/breed the frost dragons, but the celestial dragons were a product of magical experimentation by Kerapac on the white dragons. The resulting experiments crippled the mentality of the celestial dragons; due to the temporal displacement that created them, celestial dragons are only able to cope on a bestial level, and so became more animal-like in comparison to the rather civil and intelligent white dragons. It is unknown what the mental state of frost dragons are, though they are aggressive to other creatures that enter their ice cave home. Revenant dragons are simply the deceased spirits of dragons that died during the God Wars, which now haunt the wilderness as powerful specters. Frost dragons are capable of creating orbiting magical orbs that reflect all damage back onto an attacker, celestial dragons can temporarily freeze opponents in time, and revenant dragons are capable of dealing rapid and powerful damage despite being ghosts. *Frost dragons *Celestial dragons *Revenant dragons Frostdragon.png|A frost dragon. Celestial_dragon.png|A celestial dragon. Revenantdragon.png|A revenant dragon. Relatives Dragons have many relatives that share some appearance with them, while other relatives are more bizarre. Much less is understood about their relations than dragons themselves, and it is unknown what some of these creatures have in relation to dragons and dragonkin. Dragonkin This was the race that started it all, Kerapac being the first dragonkin to start the process, though others attempted to pick up where he left off in several areas. For more detailed information, and even a guide on the dragonkin, click here. Kerapac.png|Kerapac, a dragonkin and creator of the dragons. Dragonkin.png|Sithaph, another dragonkin. Strisath.png|Strisath, yet another dragonkn. Sakirth.png|Sakirth, another example of a dragonkin. Wyrms Wyrms were phenomenally massive snake-like draconic creatures, which were believed to be the first of the experiments created by the kin (excluded the king and queen, which were likely the direct parents of the wyrms). They were believed to be wiped out in the first Gielinorian God Wars, though there is a very small chance some may have survived this, and a small number of the beasts may yet be present on Gielinor; hidden and out of sight from the rest of the world's populace. Currently, as suits their mythic persona, very little is known about wyrms, except that they were perhaps the starting line of the entire draconic lineage, which ended with the dragons themselves, and the weaker more worm-like styrkewyrms were believed to have been bred from the more snake-like qualities of the wyrms. Wyrms were known to be intelligent, though their size likely limited them in the same way it limited the Queen Black Dragon, it is also suspected that they breathed fire like the queen. abyssalwyrm.png|The abyssal wyrm, a creature featured in Botany Bay. Desert_wyrm.png|The desert wyrm, a rather small summoning familiar. Strykewyrms Strykewyrms are the burrowing, worm-like cousins of dragons, who can likely trace their lineage back to the wyrms of old. Compared to their dragon cousins, strykewyrms are incredibly docile, and survive by eating minerals that they find while digging, rather than meat. Although docile, strykewyrms are capable of defending themselves, and they are famed for being difficult to kill, which often makes them a favored target of slayers. Despite being relatives of the dragons, none of the strykewyrms posses a fire breath attack, though the ice strykewyrm is capable of breathing frost. Instead, strykewyrms most often attack opponents who distance themselves by spitting up large globs of liquid; which then sail towards their opponents. There are many varieties of strykewyrms, each living in a specific environment, and who each have their own special spit-up attacks. Jungle strykewyrms, which live in the Feldip Hills, vomit up a purple liquid, which poisons their enemies. Desert strykewyrms, which live East of Al Kharid, spit up globs of sand and mud, which do not have any ill effects like the jungle strykewyrm's poisonous vomit. Ice strykewyrms, which live in a frozen cavern East of Rellekka, are capable of chilling their opponents to the bone with their freezing breath; spitting razor sharp shards of ice at aggressors, and so some heat source is required to face them. Lava strykewyrms, which live in the Northern reaches of the wilderness, spit up mounds of earth and burning liquid, which can prove fatal to those ill prepared. WildyWyrm.png|A lava strykewyrm, strongest of strykewyrms. Ice_strykewyrm.png|An ice strykewyrm, famed for its freezing abilities. Desert_Strykewyrm.png|A desert strykewyrm. Jungle_Strykewyrm.png|A poisonous jungle strykewyrm. Drakes and Wyverns It is unknown how these dragon-like creatures came to be, but they are related to the dragons in some way. Both drakes and wyverns are morphologically similar, but have slight differences. Wyverns are a little larger than their drake cousins, but not by much. While drakes breathe fire, wyverns utilize frost breath, which they can even add poisonous effects to (when a wyvern poisons its frost breath, the poison is strong enough to corrode even the bones underneath the effected flesh). Another unique aspect that separates wyverns from the drakes is their need for cold: wyverns cannot stand warm climates, being only live in freezing temperatures. Uniquely among all the draconic races: wyverns are the only members of the draconic line that posses fur (unless the dragon wolf is accounted for). Drakes (which have been recently added to the game) are poorly understood, but docile dragon-like creatures that are capable of breathing fire, and are intelligent enough to possess a sense of humor (it is unknown if they are capable of speech like dragons). Both drakes and wyverns have the unique characteristic of having no front legs; compared to their dragon cousins which have four legs. Fire_Drake_adult.png|An adult fire drake. Fire_Drake_adolescent.png|An adolescent fire drake. Fire_Drake_baby.png|A baby fire drake. Shadow_Drake_adult.png|An adult shadow drake; which is a fire drake warped by demonic magic. Shadow_Drake_adolescent.png|An adolescent shadow drake. Shadow_Drake_baby.png|A baby shadow drake. Wyvern.png|A living wyvern, in the flesh. Skeletalwyvern.png|The undead skeleton of a wyvern. Fairy Dragons Fairy dragons are creatures that existed long before the creation of the queen, as they were not a result of dragonkin experimentation. Although they are very rare, some can still be found today on their homeworld of Zanaris (Gielinor's moon), which they share alongside the resident fairies. These small dragon-like creatures, which only come up to the waist in height, are peaceful and very intelligent; capable of speech and cultural pursuits. Like dragons, they have wings, but they fly by fluttering like fairies, and thus are able to hover in the air like hummingbirds. They are also capable of breathing fire like dragons, and despite their small size and innocent appearance, their fire breath is quite strong and able to kill with a single exhalation of the lungs. Although given the title of dragon, they are not true dragons, and are only related to dragons due a small breeding attempt by a dragonkin named Taraket; who hoped to breed fairy dragons with normal dragons in an attempt to level out the dragons' aggressive tendencies. The result, Mr. Mordaut, was viewed as too non-aggressive to be a real dragon or even a candidate for further breeding, and thus was deemed a failure. Fairydragon.png|K'klik, a fairy dragon. Mr_mordaut_bodyshot.png|Mr. Mordaut, the progeny of a fairy dragon. Abilities This section details abilities of dragons and their relatives that are applicable to World-42 Roleplaying characters. Everyone is invited to add to this information. *All dragons and the majority of their relatives are capable of breathing fire, only the strykewyrms do not possess any fire breathing abilities. **Dragon fire is incredibly dangerous; as it can kill in seconds (it has been described as being similar to napalm). The stronger the dragon, the stronger the fire, though there are some preventative measures a dragon hunter can take to avoid the scalding heat; such as anti-dragon shields and antifire. Despite these protection methods, not even super antifire can fully protect a combatant from the sheer heat of the Queen Black Dragon's breath. *Dragons are capable of casting magic, though many do not take note of this. Although they are not known to be great spellcasters, when they do cast magic a dragon usually does it from the mouth as if they are breathing fire, not from the hands or a focus like a staff (like when humans or other races use magic). The most common seen spells dragons cast are water surges and magic bolt-like projectiles, though frost dragons can create magical orbs that reflect all damage back on attackers, and celestial dragons can temporarily trap their opponents in time. **It was noted by the dragonkin Kerapac that his first creation, the Queen Black Dragon, had magical potential, but her body shape and sheer size limited her, and so he created magical artifacts to help her tap into her magical potential (the equivalent of a human using a staff to strengthen their spells). It could be assumed that if a dragon had a focus of some kind, it would aid them in tapping into their own magical potential. *A dragon's wings are not just for show; they are capable of flight. This was once a heavily debated topic until a scene in the quest "dragon slayer", where Elvarg was shown flying while she burned a ship during the quest. *Dragons and their relatives that are descended from the Queen Black Dragon are mentally indomitable; not even gods are able to mentally manipulate dragons. It is unknown how dragons have this passive trait, though they likely inherited it from the dragonkin. **It is unknown if dragons would be capable of mentally manipulating other creatures, though the Queen Black Dragon was able to overpower and take over Hannibus's mind when he attempted to merge with her spirit and converse with her. **The Ilujanka were only able to ride and tame dragons because they did not actually command them; they instead merged their spirits with their dragons and shared their identities and life experiences, both dragon and rider. This merging of identity and mind helped the Ilujanka to befriend their dragons by becoming one with them, and so they were able to do what no other race accomplished in the past. It would not be entirely out of the question for an individual of another race to attempt this method of spiritual bonding, though it would likely prove very difficult and the individuals capable of this very few (summoners are able to mentally link with other creatures, if one were to discover how the Ilujanka did it, then a master summoner might be able to bond with a dragon). *Dragons, despite their bestial bodies, have very nimble fingers, as Mr. Mordaut can easily use his hands to read pages of books and hold his glasses. Intelligence All dragons and their relatives are intelligent to a degree, though this intelligence varies between the different sub-species. *Dragons themselves are supposedly very intelligent, even capable of speech, but their inherent rage and bestial tendencies cripple their chances at ever holding any civilization of their own, and instead they continue to dwell in the wilds in scattered groups. *Dragonkin are beyond intelligent; having created the dragons and their many relatives by using science and sorcery, they very likely have more intelligence than even real-life modern genetic researchers. *Wyrms were believed to be very intelligent, more so than dragons, but no accurate example of their mental state exists today. *Styrkewyrms are debated to be intelligent at best, but this may be due to the fact that they are likely incapable of speech, and so no one has likely ever had a conversation with one to find out. They do seem to be intelligent enough to realize when someone challenges them to a fight, and they respond in kind. It would not be entirely out of the question for a skilled summoner to attempt to link with one mentally in order to communicate with one and discover how intelligent they really are. **The baby strykewyrm pet from co-op slayer tasks is intelligent, though many view this pet as non-canon. *Drakes have been viewed as intelligent; as they laugh when their owners burn their hand on their fire breath, though it is not known if they are capable of speech. It is unknown if wyverns were intelligent, but this is very likely, as Postie Pete has described them as having their own language. *Fairy dragons are incredibly intelligent, capable of speech, culture, and peaceful cooperation with other races, though they are very secretive due to their low numbers. Debated Lore This section serves as a source of information regarding the debated lore of dragons as it is applicable to World-42 Roleplaying characters. Everyone is invited to add to this information. *Dragons are assumed to have their own language. *It is unknown how long it takes for a dragon to reach full adult age, but is assumed to be somewhere along twenty to thirty years. *The "giant water lizards" whose eggs were infused with dragonkin blood could have possibly been dagannoth. Similarities being that the first dragon was a giant queen and the second dragon was a three headed king; Dagannoth having one queen and three kings, one on each side of the combat triangle. The Queen Black Dragon also has special abilities that are randomly activated that can help her resist magic or physical attacks, similar to the weapon resistances the Dagannoth Mother holds. Common Mistakes *All but a select few known dragons are feral and would sooner attack a human than serve, assist, or ever tolerate riders. The only known individuals who were able to mount dragons were the dragon riders, who are a race all to their own, now nearing extinction. This race is called the Ilujanka. **Also note that not even gods are able to control the dragons; evidence shown in the journal of the last rider. *Many players, when roleplaying as or around dragons, confuse "taming" with "domesticating". Dragons, due to their indomitable minds and their aggressive natures, along with the many failed attempts by the dragonkin to breed the aggression out, would likely never be domesticated, and taming would be incredibly difficult. Unless the Ilujankan method was used, a tamed dragon would never accept a rider, and would likely turn on and kill its owner given the chance. *If a dragon were to be kept as an adult and an instrument of war, it would turn on those who imprisoned it and would be a blight to both warring sides, and would also escape at any time the opportunity presented itself, making them impractical to own. *Chromatic dragons shown in game only have yellow eyes, not red. The only dragons shown to have red eyes are the Metallic. Other Information *As revealed by Mr. Mordaut; dragons are extremely long-lived, often thought to be immortal, most only succumbing to death through injury. *Dragons seem to incubate their eggs in bowl-like nests dug into the ground, in which the parent melts rock with its fiery breath, onto which the egg rests. The egg, obviously since it is incubated upon molten rock, seems more than able to withstand such high temperatures (which would likely make a dragon egg an incredibly hard thing to cook and eat). *A black chromatic dragon's scales are considered as strong as iron, as revealed by the Canifis Taxidermist, *Dragon bones are known to be quite hard. *Most dragons stand at 12 feet tall. *Runite is considered a delicacy by dragons. This may be evidence of their link to strykewyrms, as their worm-like cousins live off eating only minerals. *Dragons often make their homes on the sites of old battles. *The scientific name that the Varrock Museum has given the dragons is: Draconis Rex. *Some dragons have been known to have more than one head; the most that has been reported is three, though this is extremely rare. The process for this is likely very similar to what creates two-headed snakes and other reptiles: in mammals this process creates twins or triplets etc, but when a reptile has "twins" it is a screw up in embryonic cell division; where there are suppose to be two eggs instead there is only one, two offspring merging into the same egg, this creates one body but more than one head. *Dragon blood is red. *There are dragon-like creatures on the Ilujanka homeworld of Iaia called Gurhs, which physically are identical to dragons; only lacking the aggressive temperament and fire breath. The Ilujanka bonded with them and lived side by side with them; the Ilujanka caring for the Gurhs' eggs and the Gurhs helping the Ilujanka with physically demanding tasks. Since they are not related to dragons genetically in any way, they were not included in the draconic races section. *Dragon wolves are draconic canines that live in the wilderness, it is unknown how they are related to dragons or how they were made what they are, but they were likely a result of dragonkin experimentation, as were the many other draconic creatures. They are capable of breathing small amounts of fire. Dragon_Wolf.png|A dragon wolf adult. Dragon_wolf_adolescent.png|A dragon wolf adolescent. Dragon_Wolf_Pup.png|A dragon wolf pup. Trivia *Amusingly, the in-game combat levels of the chromatic dragons follow the color variations of karate belts. Gallery Queenblackdragon.png|The Queen Black Dragon, the first dragon, from whom every true dragon can trace its lineage to. King_Black_Dragon.png|Shakorexis, the King Black Dragon, and first male of the race. Blackdragon.png|A black dragon, strongest of the chromatics. Babyblackdragon.png|A baby black dragon. Baby_dragon_(black)_pet.png|A baby black dragon (summoning pet version). Reddragon.png|A red dragon, second strongest of the chromatics. Babyreddragon.png|A baby red dragon. Baby_dragon_(red)_pet.png|A baby red dragon (summoning pet version). Bluedragon.png|A blue dragon, second weakest of the chromatics. Babybluedragon.png|A baby blue dragon. Baby_dragon_(blue)_pet.png|A baby blue dragon (summoning pet version). Greendragon.png|A green dragon, weakest of the chromatics. Baby_dragon_(green)_pet.png|A baby green dragon (summoning pet version). Brutal Green dragon.png|A brutal green dragon, a more primitive, intelligent, and stronger version of the green dragon. Elvarg_new.png|Elvarg, a rather dangerous green dragon that destroyed the island of Crandor. Therragorn.png|Therragorn, the last living white dragon. Mithrildragon.png|A mithril dragon. Steeldragon.png|A steel dragon. Irondragon.png|An iron dragon. Bronzedragon.png|A bronze dragon. Rune dragon (armoured).png|A rune dragon. Adamant dragon.png|An adamant dragon. Frostdragon.png|A frost dragon. Celestial_dragon.png|A celestial dragon. Revenantdragon.png|A revenant dragon. Kerapac.png|Kerapac, a dragonkin and creator of the dragons. Dragonkin.png|Sithaph, another dragonkin. Strisath.png|Strisath, yet another dragonkn. Sakirth.png|Sakirth, another example of a dragonkin. abyssalwyrm.png|The abyssal wyrm, a creature featured in Botany Bay. Desert_wyrm.png|The desert wyrm, a rather small summoning familiar. WildyWyrm.png|A lava strykewyrm, strongest of strykewyrms. Ice_strykewyrm.png|An ice strykewyrm, famed for its freezing abilities. Desert_Strykewyrm.png|A desert strykewyrm. Jungle_Strykewyrm.png|A poisonous jungle strykewyrm. Fire_Drake_(adult)_concept_art.png|Concept art of an adult fire drake. Fire_Drake_(adolescent)_concept_art.png|Concept art of an adolescent fire drake. Fire_Drake_(baby)_concept_art.png|Concept art of a baby fire drake. Shadow_Drake_adult.png|An adult shadow drake; which is a fire drake warped by demonic magic. Shadow_Drake_adolescent.png|An adolescent shadow drake. Shadow_Drake_baby.png|A baby shadow drake. Skeletalwyvern.png|The undead skeleton of a wyvern. Fairydragon.png|K'klik, a fairy dragon. Mr_mordaut_bodyshot.png|Mr. Mordaut, the progeny of a fairy dragon. Dragon_Wolf.png|A dragon wolf adult. Dragon_wolf_adolescent.png|A dragon wolf adolescent. Dragon_Wolf_Pup.png|A dragon wolf pup. Anti-dragon shield detail.png Mr mordaut new.png Category:Dragon Category:Lore Category:Races Category:Guides